October 27, 192 1] 



NATURE 



267 



in 



the "Paraphrases" of the U.P. 



a verse 

 Church : 



"The Lord will come and He will not 

 Keep silence but speak out," 



which, declaimed line by line, produced a similar 



effect. Early in the preface proper we have the 



-sentence : " Be it monumental, or otherwise, every 



effort of attempted merit has a definite aim." The 



luthor is thinking big- things, and perhaps with 



lear meaning to himself, but his words merely 



paralyse the reader. The paragraph goes on to 



reveal the author's central purpose : — 



"The aim of the work is to present the entire 

 -Libject of the combinations of normal and modi- 

 ■ed celluloses, with acidyl and alkyl radicals, in 

 -Lich completeness, clarity, accuracy, and detail, 

 ■^hat inability to locate the information desired in 

 the collective index will be positive evidence that 

 the matter sought was either ephemeral, irrele- 

 vant, inaccurate, non-existent, or valueless ! " 



It would have been easy to have said : " The 

 work is devised as a comprehensive and exhaustive 

 account of the cellulose esters, subserving con- 

 structive science, and with critical exclusion of the 

 ephemeral and valueless. It is claimed for the 

 collective index that it is final as a record of such 

 critical selection. " This is probably the expression 

 of the author's claim, whereas he leaves the reader 

 to conclude that the main value of the work is 

 its collective index, and that his chief function has 

 been the winnowing out of the chaff and even the 

 non-existent. This is one of many cases where 

 the author's meaning requires to be interpreted 

 considerably and considerately. 



Such curious evaluation of words and language 

 is especially characteristic of the handling of the 

 central subject of nitrocellulose. Thus the im- 

 portant chap. 9 is headed "Nitrocellulose 

 Theory." The author's method, however, is that 

 of recording in chronological sequence the in- 

 vestigations which brought the cellulose nitrates 

 into existence and gradually into use. In a single 

 paragraph forecast there are no indications of 

 theory', and the chapter proceeds through 120 

 pages of records before arriving at a section 

 headed "Theory of Nitration," upon which he 

 says: "The entire theory and practice of the 

 esterification of the carbohydrates rests at the 

 present time upon an empirical basis and upon a 

 series of assumptions and predictions . . ."a 

 statement which is seriously incorrect. After set- 

 ting out what he regards as the difficulties in the 

 way of generalisation or theory, he comes to the 

 conclusion, expressed in rhetorical form as fol- 

 lows : — 



" It must be obvious to the unbiased, non- 

 -peculative, reflective mind conversant with this 



NO. 2713, VOL. 108] 



; subject and cognizant of the difficulties embraced 

 ! therein, that the sum total of contributions of 

 I those who have lived and worked and gave, con- 

 i stitute but the denting or etching of the periphery 

 of a vast sphere whose potentialities are prac- 

 tically limitless. Such, at least, are the views 

 of the author." 



The form of words and incidental grammar are 

 the author's own. Without emphasising their 

 eccentricity, we suggest that he uses rhetoric as 

 a cloak for the abdication at a critical moment 

 of his true role as constructive chronicler. The 

 facts are that empiricism has marked most of the 

 stages of evolution of what the author would 

 know as "the art," but there have been definite 

 phases of progress in theory. If the matter had 

 been handled on a definite plan of "theor}," as 

 the heading of the chapter would lead one to 

 expect, the records would have been edited in 

 such a way as to follow and forecast progress, 

 and to be a useful guide, not only to research, 

 but also to consequent practical developments. On 

 the subject of "Stability," which involves a lead- 

 ing point in the theory of these esters, viz. the re- 

 actions of formation and decomposition, the author 

 avoids his responsibility of setting out the very 

 definite phases of advance, and the reviewer has 

 had to dig out for himself the connected story of 

 this important section. It is only right to say 

 that the records are full, and anyone having 

 general knowledge of the subject can supply the 

 deficiency. 



In regard to these volumes as books, the author 

 properly directs attention to the printing of the 

 matter, which is certainly an achievement. The 

 paper he describes as " Olde style," which appears 

 to mean an ultra-modern paper of wood cellulose 

 with from 15 to 20 per cent, loading, and calen- 

 dered to about one gram per c.c, and weighing 

 no grams per sq.m. of surface. This accounts 

 for the excessive weight of the volumes. 

 Moreover, in each volume, except the index 

 volume, there is reproduced the author's list 

 of abbreviations of the technical journals 

 quoted — about ninety-two pages ! This is an 

 unnecessary addition to weight; there should 

 have been one such list included in the index 

 volume. 



We have endeavoured in this inadequate notice 

 to give such an account of the work as will help to 

 secure its proper reception by tHe technical-scien- 

 tific public. It is undoubtedly "monumental," and 

 has the greatest possible merit as a record. It is 

 obviously an indispensable addition to the library 

 of all who have a special connection with the 

 subject. 



